Falling in the Dark | ✓

6 | Waffles

"Okay?" I drag out the word, dubious.

"Let's have breakfast for dinner." He taps his fingers against the square-shaped menu card lying next to our books.

I press my hands to my chest in mock offense. "How could you even suggest such a thing?"

"There's waffles with ice cream," he says invitingly.

"Sold!" I give a double thumbs-up and return his smile.

After placing the order with a cheerful waitress, Felix and I start to study.

We're trying to remember the five marketing management orientations when the waitress returns to our table, setting down two cups of coffee and two plates of waffles topped with blackcurrant ice cream for me and vanilla for Felix. Our books are momentarily forgotten as we dig into the warm, buttery breakfast food.

As we eat, Felix and I talk about our families back home, and I discover that he has a younger brother, Stanley. He describes Stan as a quirky middle school student, having an unnatural obsession with his pet turtle, ironically called Cheetah.

"Once, Stan put Cheetah's food in my breakfast cereal," he recalls with a mild look of horror and disgust. "And he didn't tell me until I'd eaten it all."

Careful not to choke on my latte, I swallow the sip before letting out a gasp. "Couldn't you tell there was something wrong when you tasted it?"

"Honestly, I couldn't tell the difference," he shrugs. "They could actually be selling us turtle food as cereal, and we wouldn't even know."

I burst into laughter, the sound lost in the din of the cozy eatery, filled with groups of Ivy University students. Downing the last of our coffees, Felix and I finally decide to resume studying.

"Where were we?" I muse as I open my heavy book again and scan the pages of the second chapter.

"We'd just finished the-"

Felix stops short when my phone screen, lying face-up in between our books, lights up and bleeps loudly. A notification indicates a new text.

Vera: So, does Grandma's parachute go off or not? x ;)

So much for coming up with a better excuse.

"Sorry," I say, grabbing my phone quickly and changing the settings to silent mode.

"Who's Vera?" he asks, his curious brown eyes fixed on me.

"Um," I say, taken aback that Felix had looked at my phone and read the text. I set the sleek gray device - face-down this time - back onto the smooth black table. "She's my best friend and roommate."

"Is her grandmother in trouble?"

I have to bite my lip to suppress an awkward giggle. "No, everything's fine."

"You can talk to her, I don't mind."

"No, it's okay, really! Vera just likes to make weird jokes."

An uncomfortable silence fills the small booth. The chatter and laughter of the crowd suddenly sound louder. I look down at my lap to avoid meeting Felix's gaze. Thankfully, the waitress arrives at our table again, breaking the tension.

"Do you guys need anything else?" she asks, tapping her pen on her little blue notepad.

"I'll have another latte, thanks," Felix says. "Carmen?"

"I'll have another too, please," I say with a polite smile.

"Be right back!" she says, turning to leave our table.

Felix and I spend the next hour-and-a-half cramming as much information as we can, quizzing each other as we go. By the time we've studied all the chapters that we needed to, the dark orange sun has set and the moon is shining a bright silver.

I draw my coat closer to my body as we step out of The Blacktop. The big, neon-green sign hanging above our heads flickers dimly.

"I'll walk you to your dorm," Felix says, nodding towards the street that leads further into the campus.

"Thanks," I smile, straightening the strap of my bag on my shoulder.

We walk in silence, watching the yellow streetlights and the cars and bicycles going by. If not for the sound of the vehicles and the wind, the night is rather quiet and peaceful.

"Thanks for today, Felix," I say when we come to a stop in front of my four-story dorm building.

"No, thank you," he shakes his head, laughing deeply. "If I pass this class, it's only because of you."

I dismiss his gratitude with a wave of my hand and a broad grin.

"Well, I better go," I say finally, pointing my thumb at the dorm entrance behind my shoulder.

"Okay." Felix leans in suddenly, placing his hands on my waist and pressing a chaste peck to my cheek. It's a starkly different sensation in that it feels nothing like the touch I so clearly remember from Friday night. My disappointment and frustration grow when I realize that Felix is definitely not my beautiful stranger.

"Goodnight," he whispers. He smiles at me briefly before turning and walking away.

I kick the dirt at my feet - soon to be blanketed in snow - and mutter to Felix's receding figure, "Goodnight."